


to think we could stay the same

by zaunito



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Love Confessions, M/M, Not Beta Read, Slow Dancing, also madaleo living together because fuck dorm arrangements!, post df event. also i havent read next door yet oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:52:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27400747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaunito/pseuds/zaunito
Summary: A million different hues mixing in their embrace, exploding and expanding along the vibration of their heartbeats.Some people might get bored of going through the same thing again and again, but that didn't apply to them, even if everything always stayed the same - every time was their first and their last, everytime was a new smile.
Relationships: Mikejima Madara/Tsukinaga Leo
Kudos: 32





	to think we could stay the same

**Author's Note:**

> two slow dancers madaleo has ruined my life

The sky was slowly tainting itself with orange hues. The stars flickering to go away until the darkness of the night came back at the end of the day.

It was rather late, or well, early - for any other normal person who had slept the way they were supposed to, unlike him who hadn't managed to rest easy at all the whole day.

But it was okay! He didn't mind, not at all. Leo would hate to be asleep while Madara could come in from that door, a few feet away from him, any moment now.

So yep - one night without any sleep _just_ for him was something he could endure.

He truly wished it had only been a singular night, and not almost everyday of the two weeks his best friend had been gone for, but it was okaaay, he had worse! As long as he could have some warm black coffee and that one jacket of Madara's that was even too big for the man himself, Leo thought it was worth it.

It had been his own choice after all, Madara _had_ asked him many times if he was sure he didn't want to tag along, and he had told him ' _I'll be okay, Mikejimama! I'm not a kid, I can take of myself, don't worry about me~!'_ or something along those lines, yet there was always this millisecond of an expression change in his friend's face, where he looked at him like he could see right through his bluff - and he wouldn't be surprised if he could, it _was_ Madara after all but, he was sure he also knew Leo had to do this.

Although they have been practically always stuck with each other after their return to Yumenosaki, with the days they had been apart being few enough to count with both hands, he could be by himself. Yeah, Madara and he had moved together after they graduated, politely rejecting the dorm's arrangements Ensemble Square had offered them, and that _did_ make him notice the absence of his friend more than he usually would, but he was okay.

He wasn't broken, he didn't need to depend on anyone, Leo was an adult who didn't need no coddling or protection despite what everyone else might say. 

So yeah, he could endure two weeks by himself at their flat. Even if sometimes the walls felt like they were closing around him, or the notes he wrote were burning his skin.

It had been too long since the last time Madara had travelled out of the country, considering the income from his family he didn't receive anymore, but with his new unit he had been able to save some - enough for a two-week trip to America. The happiness on his friend's face as he told him the details was enough to make his chest fill itself with warmness.

Leo loved travelling with him, it was always fun and he felt at ease with his friend by his side - only them and the world, just two tourists no one would look at twice.

And although he did deny his invitation because he _needed_ to try to be by himself after so long, he also did it for Madara. Double Face' funds were shared, and sure, what they didn't use for the unit itself was for its members to use, but Leo knew that a new unit a few months old could hardly afford to go around wasting its savings. 

Leo tagging along would only end up in more money spent - Madara never allowed him to pay when they were together, even if he _did_ have quite a lot saved as a Knights' member and a solo-musician. It didn't sit right with him, but it was useless trying to argue about that with his friend.

So no, going with Madara was completely out of the question, and it was the best decision - if the pictures and the chipper tone on his voice when he called and told him what he had done each day was any indication, he wasn't having a bad time at all, and that alone made Leo more than happy.

Travelling truly was the fresh air his partner needed to breathe, the idea of him chained to one place forever seemed like the worst punishment for someone like him.

The smile on his face as they stepped inside the airport or planned out which places they would visit were something he wouldn't change for anything in the world.

He had gotten distracted, again. Leo rubbed his hair as he saw the ink smeared across the coffee-stained paper, all resemblance to a song completely lost. He groaned in frustration, inspiration truly had left him the past few days.

Another sheet more crumbled and tossed to the bin. 

Before he could go and seek a different notebook, he could hear the door’s lock opening, which could only mean one thing.

“Mama!” he yelled out in excitement, as the jetlagged taller man stepped inside with his suitcase on hand. “It’s me, Leo! You do remember me, don’t you?” A question which he of course knew the answer to, although at some point the idea of being forgotten even by his dearest friend had crossed his mind, Madara had made sure to never make him doubt that ever again.

At this point, he mostly just asked to hear that genuine, heart-warming reply his friend always gave him; the original meaning of it completely lost and now only embracing the warm memories of reassurance.

He thought it was kind of funny, how Madara always remembered what was the right thing to say, how happy it made Leo hear that soothing voice of his as he said, with a lazy yet huge smile, “Of course! How could I ever forget about you, don’t be a silly boy, Leo-san!” Strong arms wrapped around him and lifting him off the ground.

It was all smiles and laughs filling the room, with Madara spinning him around while he kept his face close to his chest - it felt so comforting how it raised as he laughed, how warm he always was, no matter what.

“Did you miss meee, Leo-saaaan~?” his friend asked, making Leo meet his eyes. Those beautiful emerald eyes he could write a million songs of and never get tired. With Madara by his side, ideas always flowed through his mind. Usually he would write them down immediately, just to make sure he didn't forget about it, but when it was about his muse - he couldn't get himself to ruin moments like this, he preferred to live them at its fullest, even if it meant losing what could be a masterpiece.

He smiled, brightly, right back at him. “‘Course I did! Do you know how hard it is to reach the snacks cabinet?”

“To think your Mama would be reduced to a mere snack-grabber, you hurt me, Leo-san!” Even if he tried to sound offended, the smile on his face had only gotten bigger - and it was contagious, Leo could feel how the corner of his lips raised even more upwards as well. 

They had played around like this a hundred times before. It was funny how he always managed to forget and feel as if it were the first time. The feeling was always there with him, deep down, but it was always the same. Every time it happened once more, it hit him all at once with that very same warmness.

A million different hues mixing in their embrace, exploding and expanding along the vibration of their heartbeats. 

Some people might get bored of going through the same thing again and again, but that didn't apply to them, even if everything always stayed the same - every time was their first and their last, every time was a new smile.

They had gone through so much, they had had far from the happiest lives, they had changed, they had learnt from their mistakes and their wrong decisions, yet - in between them, everything stayed the same, and there was nothing better than that.

Leo wasn't afraid of change. So when his back hit the music player and a soft melody started playing - he didn't hesitate to grab the hand Madara offered him when his feet hit the ground.

This wasn't a stage, far from it, yet with him in front of him, gently swaying him to the tune, they could be anywhere and it would be the same.

Their hands were intertwined, their bodies closer than ever before, everything was so warm, their colours a singular hue of their own. His head was underneath Madara’s, where he belonged, where he fit perfectly - and when he sneaked a glance and saw the way his friend was looking at him, he realized that maybe this, also, had always been that way.

Nothing had changed, but this new discovery only made him at more ease as their feet moved slowly, from side to side.

“Leo-san, you smell like home,” Madara said, with the same tone someone would use to confess their love. 

And Leo felt as if his chest was going to explode.

He held the other’s face on his hands, his hands which were shaped the perfect way to caress the most precious thing in the whole world. “Welcome home,” he had said, the same way someone would say _‘I love you too’_.


End file.
